Cathay Pacific said that to cater for an upsurge in market demand for Europe, extra passenger flights to London and additional capacity to Zurich will be operated in March.
The airline is adding eight more passenger flights to London, as bookings have increased. These extra flights between Hong Kong and London will be available on 21, 23, 26, and 28 March. The airline is also adding more seating to its flights to Zurich for March.
The Guardian reported Cathay is selling seats from Sydney to London for more than £20,000 in mid-April, as passengers search for scarce long-haul flights without changing in the Middle East. These fares far outstrip the usual fares charged in the first-class cabin.
A spokesperson for Cathay said the “current fare volatility reflects a short-term supply-demand imbalance as passengers prioritise alternative routes … While we continue to offer competitive fares and broad availability, high load factors have resulted in elevated fares in select cabin classes on peak days.”
Cathay Pacific has also made an announcement on 11 March that its daily Hong Kong to Dubai and Riyadh passenger flights, as well as Cathay Cargo’s freighter flights to Dubai and Riyadh, have been cancelled up to and including 31 March due to the volatile situation in the Middle East.
Update on other airlines
Channel NewsAsia has also reported on further cancellations of Middle East flights.
Singapore Airlines has again extended the cancellation of their Middle East flights until 28 March. Scoot said that its Jeddah flights will be cancelled 17 until March. It runs flights to Jeddah four times a week.
According to information on their respective websites, Emirates flights between Singapore and Dubai are running on schedule, while Etihad Airways has no flights between Singapore and Abu Dhabi until at least 12 March.
Japan Airlines’ Doha flights are affected until 22 March.
British Airways said its flights to and from Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and Israel remain cancelled until later in March, with flights to and from Abu Dhabi cancelled until later this year.
Lufthansa said that it had suspended flights to and from many Middle East countries, but that scheduled flights to and from Riyadh and Jeddah will continue.
The Economic Times reported that Qatar Airways’ flights are still temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace, and the airline is doing everything possible to support affected passengers. The airline added that selected flights may operate under temporary authorisation from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority but these do not represent the full resumption of scheduled commercial operations. Passengers with confirmed bookings between February 28 and March 22, 2026, can opt for two complimentary date changes or a refund of the unused ticket value.
Etihad Airways also released an updated flight schedule from Abu Dhabi for 12 March. The departures include destinations such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, London, New York and Paris.
